The present invention provides an improved analog input device to be used in conjunction with the keys of the keyboard of a computer to enter data into the computer. The most common type of analog pointing device is a mouse, which sits on a surface immediately adjacent to the computer keyboard. As the mouse is moved on the adjacent surface the computer responds by moving a cursor around a computer screen.
Since the mouse is not on the keyboard, the operator is required to move his/her hand back and forth between the keyboard and the mouse with resulting delay and distraction.
In order to reduce the time involved in the back and forth motion of an operator's hand between the typing keyboard and the analog pointing device, various approaches for combining the typing keyboard and a pointing device have been proposed. One such approach involves the use of a force sensitive transducer positioned between two keys in a data input keyboard. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 915,704, filed on Nov. 29, 1990 and entitled "Analog Input Device Located in The Primary Typing Area of the Keyboard" (Docket No. LX9-91-701P) one of the disclosed transducers is a column with a rectangular cross section that has strain sensitive sensors along its sides. The rectangular column is mounted on a base located under the G & H keys of a keyboard so that the column upstands from the base in the Z direction above the keys of the keyboard between the G & H keys. The sensors are connected in two half-bridges so that force exerted on the column by the operator is translated into electrical signals that reflect the components of the force in the x and y directions.